Delhi Court summons three persons in connection with murder case

New Delhi [India], February 25 : A Delhi Court has issued summon to three people after taking note of submission made by complainant and witness Pavitri Devi in connection with a murder case in Najafgarh here.
Metropolitan Magistrate Aakash Sharma has issued summon to Rakesh Bhandari, Laxmi Rawat, and Ankita Rawat for allegedly killing a man on June 27, last year. It is pertinent to mention here that all three -- Rakesh Bhandari, Laxmi Rawat, and Ankita Rawat -- are not named in the chargesheet filed by Delhi police in connection with the murder.
The court order came on February 20 after taking note of submission made by complainant and witness Pavitri Devi, which reveals the involvement of Rakesh Bhandari, Laxmi Rawat, and Ankita Rawat in the commission of the crime.
"In view of the inquiry conducted, let Rakesh Bhandari, Laxmi Rawat, and Ankita Rawat be summoned under section 204 CrPC as accused persons for commission of offences under section 302/323/34 of IPC, " the court said.
A 33-year-old man Jitender Singh was killed by 8-10 persons in a Jai Vihar, Najafgarh of the national capital on the intervening night of June 27, last year. The man was allegedly beaten up by his neighbour and a group of people in Najafgarh area following a dispute over sharing of water. He later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.
An FIR was lodged at a local police station based on the complaint of Anil Singh, the deceased's brother. However, the fair investigation was not conducted by Delhi Police, Anil Singh said.
The complainant and his mother had made complaints to Vigilance Department citing the involvement of 8 persons. They had also apprised senior police authorities that since the beginning, the police was pressurizing the complainant and his family to settle the matter.
According to the complainant, despite a loss of precious human life, "the police was not fairly investigating the matter" and therefore a petition was filed by complainant's Counsel Amit Sahni before Metropolitan Magistrate Kishore Kumar to monitor the investigation of the case, explaining that the grievance of the complainant and his family members is not redressed.
Without addressing the grievances raised by the complainant in the monitoring application, the police filed chargesheet against four persons only. MM Kishore Kumar on September 29, last year granted liberty to the complainant to file a protest petition against the chargesheet.
The complainant through his Counsel Amit Sahni had moved a protest petition submitting that the police has favoured other accused persons for extraneous reasons despite few of them were named by the complainant, his mother. Even in a vigilance complaint, the complainant had made categorial version about involvement of one Rakesh Bhandari, Ankita and Laxmi. It was also observed by the court that the police has manipulated statements to favour the accused persons.
MM Aakash Sharma observed that the Investigating Officer has omitted investigation either deliberately or in disregard thereof and has not recorded statements correctly.
MM Aakash Sharma after noting that since inception the complainant was raising serious concerns regarding the investigation. Despite complaining to various authorities the police has left out other accused persons named by the complainant and his family.
The court treating the protest petition as a complaint directed the complainant and his mother to lead evidence, which was then recorded accordingly.
"Perusal of the statement recorded under section 200 CrPC of the complainant and witness Parvati Devi reveals that the involvement of Rakesh Bhandari, Laxmi Rawat and Ankita Rawat in the commission of crime upon the deceased on that fateful day of June 27, 2020, which resulted in the death of deceased Jitender Singh Bisht and for causing simple injuries on the person of the aforesaid witness.